Could the Moon be America's Next
Economic Frontier? (Source: CBS)
oon Express was started with a tweaked concept from President John F.
Kennedy, Jr., said founder Naveen Jain. "To rephrase JFK, we chose to
go to the moon not because it's easy, but because it's good business,"
said Jain, the former CEO of dot-com InfoSpace, told CBS MoneyWatch. He
said he was initially drawn to space exploration not because he had an
interest in it, but because he's "a fan of everything that can become
disruptive."

And Moon Express has plans to disrupt some major businesses on Earth.
Last week, the company became the first private business to receive FAA
approval to land on the moon. While the 2017 launch date is still a
ways off -- and the company's lunar lander still needs to be built --
Jain has no shortage of business plans for the moon, which he notes has
been estimated to hold "16 quadrillion dollars worth of resources."

One of the first projects will be lunar burials, with Moon Express
working with space memorial company Celestis to provide the service.
The idea is similar to families who want to commemorate their loved
ones by sprinkling their ashes over a favorite body of water or golf
course. Instead, customers will pay about $12,500 to send a capsule of
their loved one's ashes to the lunar surface via Moon Express' lander.
Click here.
(8/10)

Kepler Communications Raises $5M to
Launch Mini Satellites by 2017 (Source: GeekWire)
Kepler Communications, a Techstars Seattle graduate building telecom
infrastructure for space, just secured $5 million in seed funding. New
York venture capital firm IA Ventures led the round. The Toronto-based
startup will use the funds to grow its team and launch two tiny
satellites into space in the next 15 months.

How tiny? They’re roughly the size of a loaf of bread. The “CubeSats”
are part of Kepler’s strategy to develop low-cost, replaceable
satellites. They plan to swap out the spacecraft frequently, allowing
them to adapt to new technologies faster than traditional satellites.
Kepler Communications took part in the Techstars Seattle startup
incubator this year. The startup’s CubeSats are designed to relay
information, like asset tracking, photos, and weather predictions, in
real-time. (8/9)

Ancient Bacteria Store Signs of
Supernova Smattering (Source: Cosmos)
Iron atoms spat out by a distant stellar explosion have been found in
magnetic crystals produced by bacteria two million years ago – and may
have played a role in a mass extinction at the time. The work,
published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by
Peter Ludwig from the Technical University of Munich and colleagues in
Germany and Austria, adds support to two studies published earlier this
year that found stellar remnants in ancient Earth and moon rocks from
the same period. (8/9)

Aerojet Rocketdyne Sees Sales,
Earnings Slip with Contract Timing (Source: Sacramento Business
Journal)
Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc. reported a smaller second-quarter
profit a year after its earnings benefitted from a sale of 550 acres in
Folsom. Aerojet also saw revenue decline as it received less from its
military contracts. The company's net income declined to $5.9 million
from $17.3 million a year earlier, it said in a statement Tuesday. The
year-earlier profit included an after-tax gain of $17.9 million for a
land sale. (8/9)

U.S. Air Force Turns to Industry to
Plug Weather Satellite Gaps (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Air Force is asking industry how it could head off
looming gaps in the collection of high-priority weather data. In
a broad agency announcement released Aug. 3, the Air Force said it was
looking for solutions to provide cloud characterization and
theater weather imagery by 2019.

The Air Force said it would be open to acquiring a new government-owned
satellite, buying the weather data from a commercial company, or
developing a solution that combines government-supplied missile warning
data with conventional weather data. (8/9)

New State-of-the-Art Factory at
Spaceport Will Crank Out 15 Satellites a Week (Source: Florida
Today)
Groundbreaking is expected within a couple of months on a
state-of-the-art Merritt Island factory that plans to crank out as many
as 15 small satellites a week, each batch adding to a constellation
that will eventually total more than 800 spacecraft.

But don’t think of OneWeb, the startup developing that constellation,
as a satellite company, its founder and chairman told the National
Space Club Florida Committee on Tuesday in Cape Canaveral. “We’re
really a communications company,” Greg Wyler said in a presentation at
the Radisson Resort at the Port. “The satellites just happen to be part
of what we need to accomplish our goal.” That goal: To enable
affordable internet access around the world. (8/10)

NanoRacks External Platform Deployed
Outside International Space Station (Source: NanoRacks)
NanoRacks’ commercial gateway to space is officially open for business.
The NanoRacks External Platform (NREP) has been placed outside of the
International Space Station (ISS) on the JEM Exposed Facility.

The self-funded NREP is the first-ever commercial gateway-and-return to
the extreme environment of space. Following the CubeSat form factor,
payloads can now experience the microgravity, radiation and other harsh
elements native to the space environment, observe earth, test sensors,
materials, and electronics, all while having the opportunity to return
the payload back to Earth. (8/9)

Launchpad Changes at Cape Canaveral
Spaceport Preview New Era for Space Coast (Source:
NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Ongoing work at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral is
continuing to lay the groundwork to once again launch American
astronauts from home soil. While the huge Pad 39B equipment enters a
critical period of testing at KSC for the Space Launch System, the Crew
Access Arm and White Room is scheduled to be installed on the SLC-41
pad in the coming days, in preparation for Starliner missions. Click here.
(8/9)

Boeing's Starliner on a Weight-Loss
Diet (Source: Union Recorder)
The CST-100 Starliner had a bit of a bulge problem as of late – the
capsule was simply getting too heavy for the proper rocket to lift.
Space capsules have a huge margin of error built in; after all, you
never know how heavy your astronauts will be. Granted, those folks tend
to be on the slim and trim side, but they certainly don’t all weigh the
same! So capsules have a target area in weight, and Boeing’s Starliner
went outside that tolerance zone.

So the engineers went back to work, eliminated some heavy weights,
swapped them out for lighter components or re-designed entire
subsystems altogether. And because they are very smart people they are
just about done with those alterations. Of course this means that new
hardware has to be tested and certified (which is an incredibly
labor-intensive and long process) and then it has to be integrated with
the rest of the craft to see if it plays well with the others. Just
like in kindergarten, running with scissors will get you exactly
nowhere in space travel.

Once the upgrades are completed the capsule will be sent back to
California where the heat shield will be added and more components will
be installed. Since the capsule will ride literally on top of a rocket,
as opposed to in the safe confines of a fairing, like satellites or
robotic craft do. This brings all kinds of additional complications,
mostly in terms of aerodynamics. (8/9)

Asteroid Redirect Mission at Critical
Juncture (Source: Space Policy Online)
Three weeks after NASA completed a key milestone review of the Asteroid
Redirect Mission (ARM), the agency still has not officially announced
the results. A NASA official indicated at a NASA Advisory Council (NAC)
meeting that the review revealed cost growth, forcing a reexamination
of its objectives versus the cost. An Obama Administration initiative,
it is at a critical juncture as the House Appropriations Committee
denied funding earlier this year and President Obama’s term in office
comes to an end in just 5 months.

NASA conducted its Key Decision Point-B, or KDP-B, review of the
robotic portion of the ARM project on July 15. At a meeting of
NAC’s Human Exploration and Operations Committee (NAC/HEO) on July 25,
Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration
and Operations, said the review showed that costs are growing and the
agency must evaluate whether to accept the increase or reduce the
program’s scope to stay within the cost cap set by NASA Administrator
Charlie Bolden. (8/9)

Pressure Leak Delays Launch of
Japanese ISS Cargo Mission (Source: JAXA)
Japan is delaying the launch of a cargo spacecraft to the International
Space Station. The Japanese space agency JAXA announced Wednesday the
H-2B launch of an HTV cargo spacecraft, previously scheduled for Oct.
1, would be postponed because of a "slight leak" of air pressure in the
spacecraft. A new launch date has not been announced. The spacecraft
will carry several tons of supplies, including a new set of batteries,
to the ISS. (8/9)

UK 'Punches Above Its Weight' in Space
(Source: Flight Global)
For anybody with a longish memory it may seem an odd thing to say, but
spaceflight is a high-profile affair in the UK. On the shoulder of
astronaut Tim Peake’s blue European Space Agency jumpsuit is a Union
Jack, prominent as the former Apache helicopter pilot tours the country
to talk about his six-month International Space Station mission, which
ended with a return to Earth – and a big, smiling thumbs-up – in June.

Friendly, energetic, articulate and built top-to-toe of the purest
right stuff, it’s hard to imagine a better front person for a sustained
effort to turn young people on to science and technology careers – and
generally promote a UK space industry that is, truly, surging. (8/8)

Powerful Solar Storm Triggered 1967
Military Alert (Source: CBS News)
On May 23, 1967, three missile early warning system radar installations
suddenly showed signs of jamming, raising the possibility, however
remote, of a Soviet sneak attack. With the radars out of action,
Pentagon planners were operating "in the blind," unable to know if
enemy missiles could be be heading toward a first strike.

With long-range nuclear-armed bombers already in the air on normal
"alert" patrols, additional bombers were put on "ready to launch"
status as options were debated, researchers reported Tuesday. At the
height of the Cold War, an attack on early warning radars was
considered an act of war.

Luckily, well before President Lyndon Johnson might have been forced to
make any irrevocable decisions, a small contingent of "space weather"
forecasters working for the North American Aerospace Defense Command,
or NORAD, was able to convince the chain of command that a powerful
solar storm, not the Soviet Union, was jamming the radars. (8/9)

China Launches Earth Observation
Satellite (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
The long awaited launch of Gaofen-3 took place on Tuesday, lofted via
the Chinese Long March-4C (Chang Zheng-4C) launch vehicle. The rocket,
launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center’s LC9 Launch Complex
at 22:55 UTC, successfully orbited the new addition to the Gaofen fleet
of remote sensing satellites. (8/9)

Opening the Space Race to the Entire
World (Source: Smithsonian)
Siince the launch of the Kepler Space Telescope in 2009, astronomers
have discovered at least 2,327 planets orbiting stars outside our solar
system. Despite failures of parts that have made it impossible for
scientists to point the telescope accurately, the mission has been a
great success for NASA. That’s a relief, because Kepler has a budget
greater than the gross domestic product of some small nations.

NASA, the European Space Agency and other large space-faring
organizations have decades of such missions and discoveries under their
belts, from Sputnik to Juno. But with costs sometimes exceeding
hundreds of millions of dollars per mission, space exploration been out
of reach for most nations. And if scientists in a small country such
Israel or Malaysia wanted to send a mission to the moon, they were
often out of luck if they couldn’t partner with one of the big agencies.

But the race for space is becoming democratized. Thanks to
miniaturization and other technologies making space exploration more
affordable, now “anyone can get involved,” said Anita Heward of
Europlanet 2020 during a session at the Euroscience Open Forum in
Manchester, England on July 26. Heward is the communications manager
for the adorably named Twinkle mission, led by University College
London, which will study exoplanet atmospheres after launching in 2019.
(8/9)

Mystery Object in Weird Orbit Beyond
Neptune Cannot Be Explained (Source: New Scientist)
“I hope everyone has buckled their seatbelts because the outer solar
system just got a lot weirder.” That’s what Michele Bannister, an
astronomer at Queens University, Belfast tweeted on Monday. She was
referring to the discovery of a TNO or trans-Neptunian object,
something which sits beyond Neptune in the outer solar system. This one
is 160,000 times fainter than Neptune, which means the icy world could
be less than 200 kilometers in diameter.

It’s currently above the plane of the solar system and with every
passing day, it’s moving upwards – a fact that makes it an oddity. The
TNO orbits in a plane that’s tilted 110 degrees to the plane of the
solar system. What’s more, it swings around the sun backwards unlike
most of the other objects in the solar system. With this in mind, the
team that discovered the TNO nicknamed it “Niku” after the Chinese
adjective for rebellious.

To grasp how truly rebellious it is, remember that a flat plane is the
signature of a planetary system, as a star-forming gas cloud creates a
flat disk of dust and gas around it. “Angular momentum forces
everything to have that one spin direction all the same way,” says
Bannister. “It’s the same thing with a spinning top, every particle is
spinning the same direction.” That means anything that doesn’t orbit
within the plane of the solar system or spins in the opposite direction
must have been knocked off course by something else. (8/10)

Construction Starts on Huge Chinese
Cosmic-Ray Observatory (Source: Physics World)
Construction has begun on one of the world's largest and most sensitive
cosmic-ray facilities. Located about 4410 m above sea level in the
Haizi Mountain in Sichuan Province in southwest China, the 1.2 billion
yuan ($180m) Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) will
attempt to understand the origins of high-energy cosmic rays. LHAASO is
set to open in 2020.

Cosmic rays are particles that originate in outer space and are
accelerated to energies higher than those that can be achieved in even
the largest man-made particle accelerators. Composed mainly of
high-energy protons and atomic nuclei, cosmic rays create an air shower
of particles such as photons and muons when they hit the atmosphere.
Where cosmic rays come from, however, has remained a mystery since they
were first spotted some 100 years ago. (8/9)

Swiss Scientists to Analyse Returned
Satellite (Source: SWI)
On Tuesday, a retired European Space Agency research satellite called
Eureca (European Retrievable Carrier) left the Lucerne Museum of
Transport, where it had been on display, for the Swiss Federal
Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA). There, the
satellite, which was launched into orbit on the Space Shuttle Atlantis
on August 2, 1992, will be x-rayed by EMPA scientists. They are
interested in discovering the effects of space travel – including
cosmic rays, extreme temperatures, and vibrations – on Eureca’s
component parts. (8/9)

Japanese Engineers Working on Concrete
for Lunar Base (Source: Nikkei)
Mitsubishi Materials and Japan's space agency have begun research into
fashioning concrete from materials available on the moon, as part of a
concept for a base there. The Japanese company and the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency, or JAXA, hope to find a way to make concrete blocks
using lunar soil, which contains large amounts of glass. They will
apply a technique employed by the ancient Romans in which sand and
other materials were mixed with water and heated to create a solid.
(8/10)

Asteroid Mining Will Begin In Just 4
Years (Source: Inverse)
Space mining company Deep Space Industries just announced the world’s
first-ever commercial space mining mission. By 2020, the company will
launch its Prospector-1 robotic spacecraft on an asteroid, land on it,
and investigate its potential value as a source of precious metals,
minerals, water, and other resources.

“Deep Space Industries has worked diligently to get to this point, and
now we can say with confidence that we have the right technology, the
right team and the right plan to execute this historic mission,” said
company chairman and co-founder Rick Tumlinson in a news release.
“Prospector-1 will be the next step on our way to harvesting asteroid
resources.” (8/9)

Spreading Critical DoD Space
Capabilities Over More Satellites (Source: Space Daily)
For decades, the most secure and protected U.S. military satellite
network has served both a strategic and a tactical purpose. But now
with space becoming a more contested and militarized theater, there is
an ongoing conversation within the DoD to separate - or disaggregate -
the strategic and tactical functions of the Advanced Extremely High
Frequency (AEHF) satellite constellation.

Three of the planned six AEHF satellites have been launched so far to
replace the aging Milstar constellation. Both constellations have the
strategic role of maintaining command and control communications in the
event of a catastrophe such as nuclear war and a tactical role of
transmitting communications and data to and from areas of military
operations. (8/9)

Who Wants To Replace U.S.’s Aging
Nuclear ICBMs? (Source: Aviation Week)
U.S. defense heavyweights are rallying to the U.S. Air Force’s call for
a new-generation intercontinental ballistic missile under the banner of
Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), with Boeing, Lockheed Martin
and Northrop Grumman already confirming their candidacy for a
three-year technology maturation phase.

The request for proposals is the first programmatic step toward
delivering the first nuclear-tipped ICBM since the Cold War, replacing
the Minuteman III weapon system that has stood sentinel since the
1970s. We take a look at the major players that will likely answer the
air branch’s multibillion-dollar GBSD request. Click here.
(8/9)

Astrosat Lifted Indo-US Ties, Says
Nobel Laureate (Source: Times of India)
Nobel Laureate and NASA scientist John Mather was on Friday full of
praise for India's first space observatory, Astrosat, launched on
September 28 last year. The success of Astrosat encouraged India and
the US to collaborate in the field of space astronomy, said Mather, who
was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 2006. Mumbai had a role in
the development of Astrosat as three of the instruments are from Tata
Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) at Colaba. (8/7)

NASA Selects Six Companies to Develop
Prototypes, Concepts for Deep Space Habitats (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected six U.S. companies to help advance the Journey to
Mars by developing ground prototypes and concepts for deep space
habitats. Through the public-private partnerships enabled by the Next
Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP-2), NASA
and industry partners will expand commercial development of space in
low-Earth orbit while also improving deep space exploration
capabilities to support more extensive human spaceflight missions.

The six partners will have up to approximately 24 months to develop
ground prototypes and/or conduct concept studies for deep space
habitats. The contract award amounts are dependent on contract
negotiations, and NASA has estimated the combined total of all the
awards, covering work in 2016 and 2017, will be approximately $65
million, with additional efforts and funding continuing into 2018.
Selected partners are required to contribute at least 30 percent of the
cost of the overall proposed effort. (8/9)

Damaged Satellite Reduces Japanese
Company's Revenue Forecast (Source: Space News)
Japanese satellite operator Sky Perfect JSat is sharply reducing its
revenue forecast after a satellite delay. The DSN-1/Superbird-8
satellite was damaged during shipment to its launch site in June and
will take more than a year to be repaired. The company is now
forecasting a decline in revenues of nearly 25 percent for its current
fiscal year because of lost revenue from the delayed satellite which
includes an X-band payload for the Japanese military. (8/8)

Satellite Equipment Gains Popularity
on Aircraft (Source: Space News)
Global Eagle Entertainment reported record installations of satellite
connectivity equipment on planes. The company said Monday that it now
has its Airconnect equipment on 736 planes after adding a record 30
planes in the previous three months, and expects the installation rate
to increase further this year. Global Eagle also closed its $550
million purchase of Emerging Markets Communications last month, and
said that acquisition was key to winning an order from a Brazilian
airline. (8/8)

CNBC Creates Space Industry Index
(Source: CNBC)
Business network CNBC is rolling out a space index of stocks. The
Kensho Space Index, which CNBC developed with financial firm Kensho,
includes 30 publicly traded companies involved in some degree in space,
from prime contractors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin to smaller
suppliers. CNBC hasn't released data about the index, but notes that
"it should not be surprising to learn that the Kensho Space Index is at
a historic high."

Women in Science and Engineering
Symposium Planned in Cocoa Beach, Patrick AFB (Source: WISE)
The objectives for the WiSE Symposium 2016 are multifaceted. First, we
need to inspire diversity of thought in STEM. Secondly, we need to gain
an international perspective and leverage global strengths in the STEM
fields to replicate nationally. We also need to share success stories
and lessons learned from professional women and men (including
education and industry) in the federal government through moderated
panel discussions.

This Sep. 7-9 symposium in Cocoa Beach and Patrick Air Force Base
allows us to establish mentoring and networking opportunities to
further support career growth in STEM-related fields. Lastly, we aim to
address current STEM policy and how we can shape the future of the STEM
career within DoD, industry and supporting community. Click here. (8/9)

Launch. Land. Repeat. From Internship
to Career at Blue Origin (Source: ERAU)
Embry-Ridde business alumnus Al Garofalo proves that the real-world
challenges in Embry-Riddle courses directly correlate to real
opportunity. Garofalo’s degree in Global Business resulted in an
internship and then a job offer from Blue Origin, which is best known
for private space travel. Without hesitation, he accepted. “I’m super
excited,” said Garofalo. “It’s everything I wanted in a company – the
culture, the attitude, their approach to business. Fit was very
important to me and from the internship last summer I know I perfectly
fit in.” (8/9)

Hawaiian Launch Failure in November
2015 Blamed on First Stage Malfunction (Source: Space News)
The failure of the first launch of the U.S. Air Force’s Super Strypi
rocket last year was likely caused by a problem with the rocket’s first
stage motor, and the future of the small launch vehicle remains
uncertain. The Super Strypi lifted off from the Pacific Missile Range
Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, on Nov. 3, 2015, carrying 13 small
satellites on a mission for the Operationally Responsive Space (ORS)
Office designated ORS-4.

The rocket appeared to break up shortly after liftoff, and the U.S. Air
Force later declared the launch a failure without providing additional
information. However, he did indicate the failure was caused by an
issue with the first stage motor of the spin-stabilized rocket. That
spinning, which was within parameters, “doomed the first stage” because
the motor was, according his slides, “insufficiently robust. (8/9)

Commercial Space to Smash the
Astronomy 'Funding Wall'? (Source: Seeker)
What's happening in our universe? In the 400 years since we first
started using telescopes, we've been trying to answer this question.
The past two decades alone have been dizzying: Planets found outside
the solar system, a universe accelerating in its expansion, and hints
of the mysterious dark energy and dark matter that make up most of the
universe, to name a handful of historic discoveries. But to see
further, we often need to spend big.

But before worrying overmuch, Elvis proposes a solution: to depend more
on the commercial space sector. Think about how much it has changed
human spaceflight in the last decade. Now we have regular cargo runs to
the International Space Station; in SpaceX's case, occasionally these
missions have been able to land their rockets for future re-use. And
very soon, SpaceX and Boeing will be sending astronauts aloft on their
own spacecraft. What is the prospect for astronomy?

He argues that commercial spacecraft (which are more likely to see cost
driven down by competition) would see quick advances in a few areas.
Costs in launch, spacecraft and payloads would reduce, mainly because
we are making a lot of advances today to reduce the mass hefted to
orbit. In space, mass is one of the major costs. "Cutting spacecraft
cost by a factor 2, along with launch costs by a factor 3, would
roughly halve the cost of a flagship mission," he said. (8/9)

No Complaint From SpaceX as Air Force
Skips Competition for Pair of NRO Missions (Source: Space News)
The Air Force said it plans to award ULA a sole-source contract to
build and launch two Delta 4 Heavy rockets for National Reconnaissance
Office between 2020 and 2023. The launches appear to be the first
sole-source awards outside of ULA’s $11 billion block buy deal with the
Air Force. That contract, which was awarded in 2013, includes
production of 36 new Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rocket cores and launch
services for vehicles ordered as long ago as 1998.

The Air Force did not announce a contract value, but ULA previously has
said a Delta 4 Heavy rocket costs about $350 million, suggesting the
contract could be worth roughly $700 million. The Air Force said it
chose ULA due to the timing and complexity of the integration of the
satellites to the rockets, unique requirements, and the need to have a
certified launch vehicle by the award date.

The conventional wisdom within industry and within the Defense
Department has been that ULA’s Delta 4 Heavy rocket would compete
against SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket for such launches. The Falcon
Heavy is expected to make its long-awaited maiden launch later this
year and could earn certification from the Air Force to launch national
security payloads as early as 2017. (8/9)

Georgia County Passes Resolution to
Cover Spaceport Expenses (Source: Brunswick News)
The cost of establishing a commercial spaceport isn’t cheap. The Camden
County Commission has approved a resolution authorizing the county to
be reimbursed for all spaceport-related expenses, including
engineering, legal fees and land acquisition. Camden County
Administrator Steve Howard said the resolution sets a cap of $5 million
for a bond to pay for the project.

“If we continue to reach milestones, we could purchase the property,”
he said. “You want to capture all the costs for that project.” Mike
Fender, the county’s finance director, said he made the recommendation
for commissioners to approve a resolution based on advice from lawyers.
They said it’s a recommended practice to pass resolutions for counties
to be reimbursed for expenses on large projects. “This document only
applies if the county gets a bond,” he said.

If the county gets a bond, Fender said the money will go back into the
general fund. The county will still have to repay the bond, but Fender
said the advantage is the county can spread out the debt over 20 years.
“It’s just not going to cost the county as much,” he said. It’s
unlikely the county will need a tax-exempt $5 million bond to pay for
the its share of the project. The county will be reimbursed through the
bond no later than three years after the original expenditure is made.
(8/9)

Sen. Ted Cruz's New Mission: Space
Exploration (Source: KTRK)
It was a two-stage mission for Senator Ted Cruz. First he met with more
than a dozen industry leaders to talk about public/private partnerships
and told the group space exploration is important to him and he hopes
to see NASA expand its heavenly reach. That reach includes adding
certainty to a space program that suffers when there is uncertainty and
lengthening the lifespan of the International Space Station to 2028.
(8/9)

"An additional four years that would give a broader platform to
continue important research that important leadership will provide," he
said at the round table discussion "In my view, space exploration is a
critical priority. " The Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership hosted
the morning gathering at its headquarters across the street from
Johnson Space Center.

But after his round table with business leaders he met with Johnson
Space Center Director and astronaut Ellen Ochoa. They talked short and
long term plans for human space flight. When asked about Cruz's
interest in prolonging the ISS lifespan, Ochoa didn't directly agree
with his idea. "What we want to see," Ochoa said, "is that we get as
much utilization out of the ISS as possible both in terms of the
research and development you can do on board and also as using it as a
test bed for exploration." (8/9)

The World's First VR Camera Satellite
Launches Next Summer (Source: The Verge)
SpaceVR has signed a launch agreement to send its virtual reality
satellite to the International Space Station using a SpaceX Falcon 9
rocket in 2017. The small startup has contracted NanoRacks — a company
that runs the commercial laboratory aboard the International Space
Station — to prepare Overview 1, SpaceVR’s twin-camera cube satellite,
for release into low Earth orbit using NanoRacks’ CubeSat Deployer.
Overview 1 will head to the ISS inside one of SpaceX’s Dragon cargo
capsules during the CRS-12 resupply mission, which is expected to
launch early next summer. (8/8)